Faucet unit



July 24, 1951 F. L. BROWN 2,561,559

FAUCET UNIT Filed July 26, 1945 Patented July 24, 1951 f UNITED ,A STATES PATENT N N OFFICE A l FAUCET UNIT nois Application July 26, 1945, Serial No..607,189

The present invention relates to a faucet unit and more particularly to novel seating arrangements for a replaceable unitary valve operating mechanism andY for the valve washer thereof.

Heretofore, faucet units, especially those provided with rotatable valve members, havetended to wear out and leak at two points around the valve seat. ne point of wear and leakage, and one which has heretofore presented considerable diiiiculty in overcoming, is between the valve seat and the part of the casing upon which the seat rests, which usually takes the form of aninwardly extending flange having a beveled surface forming a base or seat for the removable operating unit. The valve seat itself is an annular member of sheet metal, such as brass, at tached to the removable operating unit, this sheeetmetal member Yseating upon the beveled surface of the casing. If the removable unit is not sufliciently initially tightened lor secured in the faucet casing, water will leak between these seating parts. Furthermore, sand `or "grit often works its way between these parts land pits or cuts them badly. Thepresent invention avoids or corrects this condition bythe insertion of a pliablefmember or gasket of pliable material betweenthe sheet metal member and the beveled surface of the casing on which it seats. This gasket, which may be of asbestos, rubber,` plastic or similar pliable or deformable material will, under pressure, created by tightening down the unit operating mechanism, become deformed and fill in the cuts and pitted spaces in the parts and maintain an eiective seal therebetween. The invention further involves the providing of a new valve seat member of sheet `material which has means to carry the gasket and retain it in proper position at all times. It not only is not necessary to position the gasket in its proper place in the casing by hand but, when the unit operating mechanism is removed from or replaced in the casing, it will carry the gasket with it. This eliminates the necessity of iishing the gasket out by hand and the possibility of its falling into the supply pipe.

Another point is the line of contact between the valve seat and valve member. Engagement of the valve member with the valve seat rubs or "scuifs a groove in the valve member, which is usually a washer of soft material, as rubber or rather soft metal having a face which contacts the valve seat beveled at an angle of about 45 to the vertical. This rubbing or scuffing finally makes a groove that becomes so large that water leaks around the seat. The present invention 1` claim. (o1. 25a-'161) eliminates this by so ypositioning the parts that the seat gradually lwears a groove into the washer that eventually presents a substantially flat horizontal surface which the valve seat contacts over a relatively wide area, as comparedv with the initial linecontact therebetween. This limits the grooving action so that it substan-f` tially stops at this point.

Other objectspadvantagesand features of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and the drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a sideelevational view, partly in cross section, of a `faucet in which an embodiment of the `invention is incorporated,showing the valve in open position. i

Fig. 2 is an `enlarged vertical sectional view of the removable unit anda portion `of the cas-l ing, showing the val-ve in closed position.

Fig. v3 is a sectional View taken on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

In the embodiment of the invention shown vin the drawings. I0 represents a valve Acasing having a nozzle II extending therefrom. The casing is provided with a base I2 adapted to be :secured to a plumbing`iixture,-such .as a .tub or basin, in the usual manner, and ya downwardly extendingthreaded pipe I3 adapted for attach#- ment to a water supply pipe. The word "downwardly as used hereinabove, and other similar words used throughout the specification and" claims arerelated to the particularposition of the faucet as shown in the drawingaand are to be correspondingly construed in other faucet positions.

A cylindrical opening I4 is provided in the upper part of the casing I0. This opening communicates with a chamber I5 which in turn communicates with the bore of the nozzle II.`

Immediately beneath this chamber I5, and above the pipe I3, is a valve chamber I6; Between the chambers I5 and I6 is an opening in the casing having therearound a beveled annular flange II, this flange providing the seat for the unit operating mechanism.

Removably mounted in the casing IIl and held therein by nut I8 and Washer I9 is the removable unit operating mechanism comprising a sleeve member 20 in which is an upper chamber 2| and a lower chamber 22 between which is an annular flange 23, which provides a restricted opening or passageway between the chambers 2l and 22. The bottom of the lower chamber 22 is open, communicating with 'the Valve chamber I6. The lower chamber 22 also communicates with the chamber I5 through there by the flange a is a gasket 21 of asbestos,"

rubber, or other pliable material. The upper portion ofthe inner wall of the sleevel member 2U is threadedfior the reception; of external threads on the combination stem" The part 28-has a The gasket 21 is so formed that the opening around its lower end is of less diameter than that o1 the outwardly extending fiange or valve seat portion 25a of the sheet metal part 25. Being of pliable material, the gasket 21 may be stretched and placed above the iiange 25a and around the member 25. The ange 2 5althen serves to retain the gasket 21 in proper lposition to seal the space between the beveled surfaceoi the flange .Il of the casing and the seat member 25, as well as to carry the gasket 21 While the unit operating mechanism is being installed into, or

yremoved from, thecasing I0.

While I lhave shown and described ycertain embodiments ofmy invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications.

Changes, therefore, in the' construction and arl rangement may be made without departing from is adapted to be attached and below 'whichis the threaded portion 30; Below the threaded portion-30 the` part 28 is provided with'a-'shoulder Sila-adapted to be' received'ina recess @l inthetopoi the flange 233offthesleeve 2ilwhen the valve is open.I `rlfhe lmember 28 is reduced belowrthe shoulderYZilla..sufficiently` 'to pass through -the openingvin the ange 23 and at its l'owerend Vis-lprovided` with af'threadednut 32 above which is a flat washer33 and flanged washer 34, the latter providing a 'seat Yfor lthe valve` washer v Complementary shoulders are :providedron'the .memberf28 and -valve washer i5/so asto .insure .proper positioning 'of the latter... l

'-Thenupper surface .of ithe-valve member 35 is beveled to form a surface awhich-contacts thevvalveseat 2511 upon closing of the valve.

The angle of'v ther beveled surface 35a is prefer-V ably about 38?v to the horizontal, rather than thev 45";4 heretofore Agenerally fused. -r'he valve Washer beveled surface 35a initially has a line contact with the 'valve-seat 25a,I but rubbing of ther-members against -each other in use' will `gradually cause the scatto Wear a groove in the valve-washerI beveled surface'. 35a which results in. more contactv between the members until the` lower `surface ofthe groove, like the lower su-rface of the seat ZELL-is substantially horizontal (as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2). This ultiinateflat seat with the increased amount of contact area between the seating parts substantially stops further grooving action while still providing an eiective'seal. v; l

the spirit and scope oi the invention as disclosed in the appended claim.V I'claimf: 1' i* f" In'a'faucet having'a casing with an inwardly extending 'vidange a removable unit Voperating mechanismin said casing including: an annular sheet'metal seat member removably mounted on said unit and adapted to lie closely adjacent to but slightly spaced lfrom said ange; and a pliable member on said seat member sealing the space between said seat member and said flange, the innern'edge of` said annular sheet metal member being turneddownwardly and outwardly and the inner edgefof said' pliable member being of slightly less diameter than said outwardly turned edge, whereby the seat member provides a valve seat for a valve'member and provides a retaining "means for "said pliable member.`

'FRANK L- BROWN.4k

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent: Y v UNITEDl STATES PATENTS Number Y Name Date 951,407 MooreI Mar. 8,191'0 1,635,875 'Albrecht i VJuly 1251927' l-,640,52'1 Brown l ;l' Aug. 30, 1927 fil-,856,664 Steen-num; May 3, 1932 1,985,382 Schachtel' Q-; Dec. 25, 1934 '2,089,848 Hoferle Aug: l0,I 1937 

